Governance

3 Items

A family from southern Somalia arrive in a refugee camp in Mogadishu, Somalia, Aug. 4, 2011. The UN says famine will probably spread to all of southern Somalia within a month and force tens of thousands more people to flee into the capital Mogadishu.

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - The Atlantic

Famine in Somalia: What Can the World Do About It?

| August 2, 2011

"The international community can also do things beyond Somalia, and indeed beyond the exigencies of emergency food aid. Rich nations, including the United States, can start by delivering the support they have promised to build Africa's own food-production capabilities. Small farmers throughout sub-Saharan Africa need help to boost their productivity....What these farming communities need, above all else, is increased public investment in rural roads, electrical power, irrigation, clinics, schools, and agricultural research."

In this March 8, 2011 photo, Joseph Dzindwa, who has expanded from a one-hectare to an eight-hectare maize farm in the last few years, checks his hybrid maize crop in Catandica, Mozambique.

AP Photo

Testimony

Agricultural Biotechnology: Benefits, Opportunities, and Leadership

| June 23, 2011

"The United States has been a leading light in agricultural biotechnology as a platform technology and continues to serve as an important role model for countries around the seeking to address global food challenges. A key source of this leadership has been its commitment to using a science-led regulatory system for determining the approval of new products. The rest of the world needs this demonstrated leadership now more than ever given rising food prices and related political unrests around the world. Failure on the part of the United States to champion agricultural biotechnology will undermine confidence in the ability of the global community to confront the challenges of food security. Retracting from using science and technology to address emerging challenges will not result in any savings; it will only defer problems and future costs are likely to be higher."

Aug. 17, 2010: genetically modified (GM) sugar beets are harvested near East Grand Forks, Minn. GM sugar beets provide 1/2 of the U.S. sugar supply.

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - The Des Moines Register

Technological Intolerance Threatens Global Food Security

| February 19, 2011

"Modern biotechnology is an important force in global agriculture. But it continues to be challenged by those wanting to limit its spread under the pretext of preserving the purity of organic farming. This is being done despite worrying evidence of rising food prices and the associated political unrest."